


A Gut Feeling

by kickcows



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti)
Genre: Awkward Flirting, Feels, Fluff and Humor, Love Confessions, M/M, Teen Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-23
Updated: 2020-09-23
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:49:02
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,717
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26616241
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kickcows/pseuds/kickcows
Summary: Eddie comes to the realization that he might have fallen in love with one of his best friends, and isn’t sure how to deal with said feelings.
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 10
Kudos: 57





	A Gut Feeling

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Moransroar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Moransroar/gifts).



> This is a birthday gift for a good friend of mine, who has fallen hard into this pairing. :) Please enjoy! 

* * *

“How do you know you’re in love with someone?” 

Eddie paused reading his comic as he heard Richie’s voice carry through the Barrens. He stared down at the artwork, not really seeing anything as he strained to listen to the conversation he could hear he was having with both Bill and Ben near the water’s edge. Was Richie dumb enough that he thought he was far enough away to ask that sort of question? Why was he even thinking that maybe the question was about him? Eddie continued to stare at the comic, these thoughts going through his head faster than Bill riding on Silver. 

“W-W-W-Well, I gu-gu-guess it depends on how you f-f-f-feel.” Bill sounded like he was struggling, and for once Richie wasn’t giving him shit about it, which made Eddie slightly uneasy. 

“What Bill is trying to say is that you sort of know in your gut.” Ben dove in, Eddie feeling slightly sorry for Bill, as he knew he probably had a good explanation but it might take him ten minutes to get through it. 

“Gut, huh?” The sound of someone slapping something echoed across the Barrens. “I don’t really have a gut, ya know?” 

“Beep beep, Richie.” Ben responded, Eddie hiding the smile on his face by ducking his head. “You know I didn’t mean it like that, asshole.”   
  
“No, you’re right. Sorry, Benalamb.” Eddie set his comic down, and decided to head over to where the three were, to see if the conversation would magically change, or if Richie would be man enough to keep on the same subject. “Hey, Eddie Spaghetti!” 

“Don’t call me that.” He looked over at Richie, noticing a slight twinge in his own gut as he saw him look back at him. _Feeling in your gut._ “What are you guys talking about over here?” 

“W-W-We were t-t-t-talking about l-l-l-lah-” 

“What Billy Boy is trying to say is that we were talking about nothing important, Eds.” Richie walked over to him and threw his arm around his neck. He pushed at him, trying to get out of his grip, but really - he kinda liked it when Richie showed him this kind of special attention. “Quit struggling, Eds. You know you love it.” 

“Beep beep!” Eddie said, struggling to get out of Richie’s grasp, but it wasn’t that much of a struggle. “Get off of me, man!” 

The arm disappeared, but before he could fall and scrape his hands on the stones by the banks, Richie caught him. “Sorry, Eddie.” The apology came out in his normal voice, again startling Eddie, and making that weird feeling return to his gut. “Anyone want to go get some ice cream?” 

“I-I-Ice c-c-c-cream sounds g-g-g-g-good.” Bill nodded his head. “B-B-B-Ben?” 

“I’m down to get some. But should we wait for Bev, Stan and Mike? Or were they not coming down here today?” 

“I’m sure they’re all up in town, Senor Hascomb!” Richie put on the worst Mexican accent, Eddie no longer the recipient of having Richie pay attention to him. “Shall we go to their casas, and see if we can get them to go get the crema de ice with us amigos?” 

“You are truly awful. You know that, right?” Eddie grabbed his comic, and folded it up before putting it in his back pocket. “If my mom finds out I’m eating ice cream before dinner, she’s going to kill me.” 

“She’s going to kill you if she knows you’ve been down here in the Barrens with us.” Ben reminded him, as they hiked back up to the main road. “Might as well die with some good junk food in your stomach.” 

“Spoken like a true man of God!” Richie clapped his hands, the four of them heading back to Derry. “Listen to the man, Eds - he knows what’s up. Ice cream is the best kind of junk food.” 

He fell into step with Bill, and he could see he was touching his stomach. “You don’t have a stomachache, do you? Because if you do, then don’t make these assholes force you to eat something you don’t want. Don’t worry, Bill.” 

“Huh?” Bill looked over at him, then shook his head. “N-N-No, I w-w-w-w-wouldn’t mind some ice cream.” He stared off in the distance, Eddie deciding that maybe now wasn’t the best time to find out where their fearless leader’s head was at the moment. “Y-Y-You guys wanna have a sleepover this w-w-w-weekend?” 

“At your place? Your mom gonna feed us that yummy lasagna of hers? You know, that creamy, rich-” 

“Beep beep, Richie.” Ben and Eddie spoke at the same time, instantly shutting their friend up from saying something unnecessary. 

“Yes, dickhead.” Bill shoved Richie’s shoulder, as they started to walk to the ice cream parlor. On their way there, they ran into both Stan and Bev, and Eddie saw both walk with Bill, leaving him with Richie and Ben. 

“Will you be allowed to go to a sleepover?” Richie asked him, the two falling behind the rest of their friends. “Or will your mom have a cow about it?” 

“She’ll probably have a cow.” Eddie sighed, wanting to go to a sleepover. “But, I’ll see what I can do. You gonna go?” 

“Sounds fun.” He turned and saw Richie nod his head, his hands shoved into his pockets. “But if you can’t go, then I dunno. Maybe I’ll just stay at home. Or, we could hang out together? If you can’t go.” 

His gut did that weird thing again. It was like he was falling, but not. “Nah, you should hang out with Bill. He really likes you.” 

“Yeah, I mean, what’s not to like?” 

And there it was - the real trash mouth had returned. “Shut up, Richie.” He nudged his elbow against him, then without really thinking about it walked a little faster so that he could walk with Ben and Beverly.

That suggestion that Richie had made had stuck with him for the rest of the afternoon, as he debated whether or not he should ask his mom if he could spend the night at Bill’s. She’d let him before, but not since all the disappearances started to take place. If she knew that he hung out in Barrens often with his friends, Ben was right - she would kill him. But, if they were at a house, it was different. 

“Hey, ma?” They were sitting at the dinner table, Eddie with a full plate of spaghetti and meatballs in front of him. He heard Richie calling him that stupid nickname as he twirled some of the noodles onto his fork. His voice was _always_ in his head as of late, and it was beginning to annoy him. Sort of. 

“What is it, Eddie?” His mother’s eyes were glued to the television, a recording of one of her soaps that she loved to watch. 

“Bill’s invited me over to spend the night on Saturday. Can I go?” He hoped that she was distracted enough that she would say yes without really hearing him. 

“You know that I don’t like that boy. That stutter isn’t normal, Eddie.” 

“It’s gotten worse because of his brother’s disappearance.” Eddie was quick to defend his friend. “He’s not contagious. I’m not going to get sick because I spend the night over there. I can ask to sleep in his brother’s room, if that will make you feel better?” 

“It might.” She hadn’t looked at him yet. “If you promise to behave, then I guess I can allow it this one time.” She turned to look at him. “But that’s it. No more sleepovers after this one.” 

He knew he couldn’t question her, so he nodded his head. “Thanks, Ma. Want me to have Mrs. Denbrough call you, so you know what we’ll be doing?” 

“No, Eddie. You know I don’t like talking on the phone.” 

_You don’t like to do a lot of things_. He held his tongue, and gave a nod of his head. “Thanks, Ma. I really appreciate it.” 

“You’re welcome.” She was already looking back at the television, Eddie returning to eating his food. 

Later than night, he waited for his mother to head to her room before he picked up the phone and dialed Richie’s number. “Tozier residence, where we-” 

“Richie - enough!” 

Eddie stifled a laugh behind his fist as he could hear Richie’s mother yelling at him for the way he was answering the phone. “Hey, Richie.” He said, once he stopped snickering. “Got some good news for you.” 

“Oh yeah? What’s that, Eddie Spaghetti? Did you decide to go and join the circus? Gonna go dance with the bears?” 

He laughed, then gasped as he realized his mother thought he was asleep. “Shut up, dickhead. Stop making me laugh. No, I got the okay to spend the night at Bill’s.” 

“Serious?? Holy shit!” 

“Richie!!!” 

“Sorry, Mom!” Eddie had to bite his fist to stop the giggles from happening again. “Guess that means I’ll be spending the night too.” 

“I mean, you don’t have to.” His gut started to feel strange again, but this time he didn’t think too much about it. “I could just tell you all about the fun times I’ll have with Bill, and Ben, and-” 

“Stop.” He closed his mouth as he heard Richie use a voice he’s never heard before. “I’ll talk to you later, Eds.” 

“Hey, wait - I didn’t mean anything bad. Richie, wait!” 

But it was too late. The line was already dead. He hung up the phone, and stared at the wall, stunned. 

_What the hell just happened?_

***

The next day, everything seemed normal. Richie was teasing him an equal amount as he always did, but he was also teasing Ben and Mike - who had been able to sneak away from the farm for a bit. The three of them were hanging out, sunbathing on the rocks above the Barrens. 

“You guys gonna spend Saturday night at Bill’s?” Mike asked, as the three of them headed back up to Derry. “Ben called me and invited me.” 

“Yeah, we’ll be there.” Richie said, nodding his head. “You gonna go?” 

“Can’t. Church early on Sunday. My family doesn’t like me going out on Saturday nights because of that.” Mike shook his head. “Anyway, I’ve gotta go make a few deliveries before heading back. See you guys later?” 

“Bye, Mike!” Eddie waved, then looked up at Richie. “Hey - um...are we okay?” 

“What? Yeah, of _course_ we are, Eds!” The smile on Richie’s face looked fake, and now - instead of that nice warm feeling he’d gotten used to feeling in his gut when he had Richie’s eyes on him, he felt a little sick. “You worried you upset me? You could never upset me, buddy!” 

Richie threw his arm around his neck, that return to normal helping Eddie feel a little better about their exchange. “Gross, man.” He pushed him away, laughing as he saw Richie really smile at him again. “You’re a dumbass, you know?” 

“Boy do I know.” Richie blew him a kiss, which Eddie stared in wonder at him. “You be good, Eddie Spaghetti. I’ll see you later!” He waved, then was heading down the street. 

He had a feeling that this sleepover was going to be a bit more crazy than normal. He hoped not, but after that moment with Richie, he wasn’t really sure what to expect. 

***

Eddie stood on the doorstep of the Denbrough residence, his mother waiting for him to go inside. After convincing her that she didn’t have to walk up to the front door with him, he was now standing there, afraid to knock on the door. But luckily, it seemed that Mrs. Denbrough had heard him, and opened the door with a smile on her face. 

“Good evening, Eddie. Bill told me you would be spending the night. The boys are out back.” She looked over his head, and waved at his mom. He turned and gave her a final wave, then went inside with her. “There are tents set up out back.” 

“Thank you, Mrs. Denbrough.” He walked through the house and headed to the backyard. There were three tents, and he could see Stan, Richie, Ben, Bev and Bill were sitting around a campfire. “Sorry I’m late, you guys!” He dropped his stuff down, bringing his own sleeping bag, pillows, and plenty of clothes to change into if he got cold. 

“We missed you, Eddie!” Bev got up and threw her arms around him, hugging him. He returned her hug, then looked at the four sitting around the fire. “You missed a good dinner.” 

“Yeah, my mom insisted I eat at home.” He sat down next to Ben, across from where Richie was. It felt weird not to sit next to him, but given how things had been the last few days, he really didn’t know what he was supposed to do. “But I made it in time for dessert, right? We’re gonna roast some marshmallows?” 

“You know that marshmallows aren’t kosher, right?” Stan commented, eating a piece of Hershey’s chocolate. “So I won’t be eating them.” 

“What? Serious?” Eddie had no idea. “What’s inside of a marshmallow that you can’t eat?” 

“Horses hooves.” 

“WHAT!?” 

Richie started to laugh, then shook his head. “Stan, my man - come on! You can’t say that to Eddie! Now he’s never going to eat a marshmallow again.” Richie looked across at him. “It’s because of the gelatin, Eds. It’s what makes them so tasty.” 

“Gelatin….horses hooves??” He felt like he was going to be sick. 

“They haven’t made gelatin using horse parts in a very long time.” Ben came to his rescue. “They mostly use pork, which Stan definitely can’t eat.” 

“I’m claiming his share, then.” Richie picked up the bag of marshmallows, and shoved a few into his mouth. “How many do you think I can get in here?” 

“Beep beep, Richie.” Bev said, tucking some of her short hair back behind her ear. “You’ve been so decent tonight. Why are you suddenly acting like this?” 

“Oh, I know why.” Stan said. 

“S-S-Stan, d-d-d-don’t.” Bill shook his head. Eddie looked back and forth at the two of them, ignoring Richie as he continued to shove more marshmallows into his mouth. “E-E-Eddie - please eat them. They’re good. We have a l-l-l-lot of chocolate to e-e-eat.” 

“Ten!” Richie said, his voice muffled by all the marshmallows in his mouth. “Am I chewing them? Should I swallow them?” 

It was difficult to understand him, but Eddie knew enough Richie speak to know what he was asking. “Spit them out, asshole.” He got up and walked over to him. He watched him spit the wad of marshmallows into his hand, then grimaced. “So fuckin’ gross. Why are you so gross, Richie?” 

“You like me gross, Eddie Spaghetti.” Richie looked up at him. His gut did the thing, and all he could do was return the smile as he sat down next to him. “You want some of these?” Richie held up the wad of wet marshmallows. 

“Ew, no thanks.” He was glad when Richie tossed them onto the fire. “What’s with the tents? Are we not sleeping under the stars?” 

“We c-c-can.” Bill nodded. “Or we s-s-s-sleep in them.” 

“There’s six of us, but how do we decide who gets to sleep with who?” Beverly asked. 

Eddie felt his stomach begin to hurt as he realized he might not get to sleep near Richie. And _that_ didn’t make him feel very good. “That’s easy, doll. Me and Eds - we’re gonna shack up together, ain’t that right, Eds?” Richie threw his arm around his neck, but this time he didn’t fight his way out of his grasp. “And Bill over there - well, I reckon he wants to sleep with Stan the Man. Which leaves you to be with dear old Benny.” 

No one made a comment, Eddie wondering just what Beverly was going to say to that arrangement. “Yeah, ok.” She smiled, and nodded her head. “Works for me. You okay with that, New Kid?” 

“You know me - I’m just hangin’ tough.” 

He turned to Richie, noticing that his arm was still around his neck. “Guess I’m sleeping with you?” His cheeks felt painfully hot, as he refused to look away from him. 

“If that’s okay?” He was surprised by the sudden shyness that seemed to appear out of nowhere on Richie’s face. “You can sleep with Bill and Stan, or, with Bev and Ben, but Ben might kill you and-” 

“I want to sleep with you.” Eddie said quickly. 

“Cool.” 

The arm around his neck disappeared as Bill each handed them a stick to roast their marshmallows on, and then they were talking about nothing too serious as they chowed down on their treats. When it got to be one in the morning, Bill’s father told them it was time to go to bed, which no one put up a fight about because they all sort of figured it was going to happen a lot earlier. 

Eddie rolled out his sleeping bag, and then saw Richie already was laying on top of the one that Bill’s family had provided. He wasn’t sure where he should put his bag - close to his? Away from his? Too many choices. He decided to just drop it, and if it landed near Richie’s, then fine. Whatever. 

“You tired?” He asked, as he dropped his pillows down, then unzipped his bag. It had wound up a couple of feet away from Richie, but by the time he was settled into his bag, they were only about a foot apart from each other. He turned and saw Richie had taken his glasses off, Eddie happy that the moonlight was strong enough tonight that he could see his features as plain as day. 

“Not really.” Richie shook his head, as he stared back at him. “Feeling a little weird right now.” 

“Uh oh. Did you eat too many marshmallows? Damn it, Richie. I don’t want to be trapped in here if you’re going to be sick.” Eddie was beginning to panic. “Should we go and get Bill’s mom? Like, what if-” 

“Eddie.” A hand covered his mouth, silencing him as he saw Richie staring back at him. “I feel weird because I never really thought we’d get to sleep together like this.” 

He blinked a few times, trying to understand what Richie was trying to say. “Would you rather I go?” He asked, as Richie’s hand was removed. “I can, Richie. I know things aren’t the best right now between us, and really, I don’t know why. You hung up on me! You never hang up on me. You’re really beginning to make me feel like-” 

His words stopped as Richie’s face came dangerously close to his, and then everything stopped as Richie’s lips touched his with a kiss. “I like you.” Richie whispered, their foreheads coming together as they both took ragged breaths. “That’s why I’m acting all crazy. I like you, Eddie.” 

“So….your gut feels funny too, doesn’t it?” He asks, outing himself for listening to the conversation that Richie had had earlier in the week with Ben and Bill. “Because mine always feels funny whenever I’m around you.” 

“You confessing your love for me, Eddie?” 

“Dick.” He pushed Richie’s shoulder, but then gave a small nod of his head. “It’s stupid, right? We’re too young to know what that even means. It’s a construct. It’s not real. They are just feelings, nothing else.” 

“Even so, I know how I feel.” Richie put his arm around him as best as he could with the sleeping bag separating them. “Call me a lame romantic, but I’m pretty sure I’m in love with you.” 

“Idiot.” He mumbled, but felt tears of joy start to cloud his eyes. 

“Confess to me too, Eddie.” 

“No.”

“Come oooooon.” 

Eddie smiled, then gave a quick peck of a kiss to Richie’s cheek. “I love you, birdbrain.” 

“No, I think you’ve got me confused with Stan. He’s the one that likes those birds, and-” 

“Beep beep.” He put a finger against Richie’s lips, and smiled as he saw Richie close his mouth. “Yes, I think I’m in love with you too. If Ben was right about that gut thing, then I don’t know what else this could be.” 

“Gas?” 

“Richie.” 

“Just kidding, Eds.” 

They moved to be closer to each other, the comfort that whatever weirdness had been going on between them was suddenly gone made them both feel worlds better. Eddie put his head on Richie’s shoulder, and felt himself fall asleep with the most content smile on his face. This was exactly what he needed, and what he had wanted deep down inside. 

The next morning they woke up in the same position, Richie looking down at him. “Hey.” 

“H-Hi.” He prayed that his morning breath wasn’t horrible. “Sleep well?” 

“Yep. You?” 

“Yes.” 

“H-H-H-Hey, b-b-b-breakfast in-s-s-s-s-ide.” 

Bill’s greeting had them both scooting away from each other, as if they’d been caught doing something they weren’t supposed to be doing. “Thanks, Bill.” Eddie called out, then looked at Richie. “Guess we should get some food.” 

“Eddie….wait.” 

He was about to ask why, but then he felt Richie kiss him again. “Thanks. I won’t be weird, okay? Same as always.” 

“Me either.” He agreed. Getting out of his sleeping bag, he stood up and stretched. “Man, I am starving. I hate that my mom didn’t let me come and eat dinner here last night.” 

“Your mom is kind of the worst.” Richie said, as they both left the tent together. 

“Beep beep, you asshole.” He grinned, looking up at Richie as they walked towards the house together. 

“We’re having pancakes!” Ben exclaimed, as they sat down at the table together. “With bacon, and some hamburger meat for Stan.” 

“Yum yum!” Richie rubbed his stomach. “Let’s eat!” 

He shared another look with Richie, and then looked at the rest of his friends. Coming clean about their feelings for one another had been the best thing that Eddie had ever experienced in his life. He knew that whatever was going to happen to them over the rest of the summer, they would always have this one night for themselves. And that was all that really mattered to him. 


End file.
